Ribbon SBCs Support Microsoft Teams Survivable Branch Appliance

Ribbon Communications Inc., a global provider of real time communications software and packet and optical transport solutions to service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure sectors, has announced that its Session Border Controller (SBC) 1000, SBC 2000 and SBC Software Edition (SWe) Lite now support Microsoft Teams Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) for Microsoft Direct Routing.

Ribbon is among a select group of Microsoft-certified SBC vendors who have participated in SBA development and trials. The Teams SBA enables users to place and receive business calls even if Microsoft 365 is unreachable.

“Our enhanced support for Microsoft Teams SBA provides organizations with a reliable back-up to make calls from Teams in Offline Mode in case of a network or cloud outage,” said Tony Scarfo, Ribbon’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cloud and Edge Business Unit. “The SBA services are a perfect complement to our enterprise SBC portfolio. We are pleased to be among the first vendors to offer this resiliency capability to our customers, which will help accelerate their move to the cloud.”

Scarfo added, “We have enjoyed a long, successful history with Microsoft, having worked closely with them to develop the SBA for Skype for Business, so we understand the technology and have years of experience deploying it in enterprises.”

“Microsoft Teams Survivable Branch Appliance is a critical requirement for high-availability sites to preserve calling capabilities in the event of a Microsoft 365 outage,” said Irwin Lazar, Vice President and Service Director at Nemertes Research. “With the growing number of organizations that have adopted, are evaluating, or planning to adopt Microsoft Teams Phone System, the need for Microsoft-certified SBCs to support remote site survivability is essential for ensuring reliable business operations.”

Microsoft Phone System with Microsoft Direct Routing provides voice calling services for Microsoft Teams users, allowing them to connect to their colleagues, customers, and business partners. Ribbon’s Microsoft-certified SBCs delivers secure, high-quality voice services for Microsoft Teams Direct Routing.

The market-leading Ribbon SBC 1000 and 2000 can be ordered with an additional Server Module and SBA software. The SBC SWe Lite offers a configuration that includes SBA software.

The Ribbon enterprise SBC portfolio will offer cost-effective hardware and software-based options for both small business and large offices. The solutions provide advanced security and interoperability with legacy PBXs and contact centers. The new SBA features are built into Ribbon’s easy configuration wizard, which allows for simple installation and administration.